


Don't Eat the Human Psyche

by Mizar



Category: Persona 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 17:36:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19408090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mizar/pseuds/Mizar
Summary: A short thought experiment about why eating Shadows is not a good idea, and why it's not wise to challenge Minato on the subject of food.





	Don't Eat the Human Psyche

The Shadow fell onto its side, blood oozing from the slash straight across its head. As Minato shook the goo off his sword, he heard a familiar voice push aside his thoughts.

“We’re all scattered! Junpei, Minato, hold on up there and wait for the people on the lower floor to catch up. Just say safe!”

Junpei yawned and folded his arms behind his head. “We’ll be  _ fine _ ,” he said with a smirk. “This place is pretty easy. Fuuka worries too much.”

Minato nodded vague agreement, sheathing the sword and glancing back and forth for any more threats. No motion down either hallway. They had time to recover.

“Man, if we can do a whole floor without them, maybe we should split up more often! We can cover way more ground.” Junpei wandered up and down the corner stairs to the platform above, where Shadows oddly had trouble reaching.

The group’s leader didn’t respond, instead tilting his head and watching the body lie still. It looked so much like an animal. Maybe…

“Huh? Whatcha doing?” Junpei asked as Minato dragged a hand along the side of the slash, picked up some of the reddish-black blood, and licked at his fingers. “The hell?”

His brows drew together as he tried to place the flavor. Not exactly meat, but definitely meat-like. A little tingly. Metallic. Not bad, certainly, though not exactly  _ great _ either.

“Man, what’re you--”

Pulling out his sword, he sliced off a bit of flesh and popped it in his mouth. Junpei made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a yelp, and he chewed thoughtfully for a few seconds. Definitely meaty. Kind of...squishy? Spongy. Like really wet flesh. It didn’t come apart well, just softened as he gnawed on it, so he swallowed it as a single chunk.

The taste wasn’t so bad, and he had been dragged off to Tartarus in the middle of making ramen at the dorm. Maybe Shadows were a passable source of food. Glancing down at the claw marks on his arm, he saw them shine dimly and seal up.  _ It heals? _ The warm sensation in his stomach spread out through his body, an energetic tingle.  _ Neat. _

“Dude, what the hell? Does it...does it taste okay? Do you feel sick?” Junpei prodded him with the hilt of his two-handed sword. “Talk to me, man.”

“It’s…” He cut off another piece. “It’s fine. Energizing.”

“Weird. Don’t get poisoned or something, okay?”

Fuuka’s mind-voice returned after a few minutes. “Sorry, everyone. Just a little longer. We were farther apart than I thought.”

“Hey.” Junpei stretched out his legs. “So I heard you can eat, like, infinite food.”

Minato shrugged, though his eyes crinkled in amusement.

“Wonder if you can eat that whole thing.”

He brought a hand to his chin and surveyed the creature. True, it was fairly small by comparison to the usual monsters they fought, but it was still an  _ entire animal. _ Well, sort of animal. Even so…

“Maybe.” He walked a quick circle around it. “...Possibly?”

“Hey, you’re hungry, I’m bored, we’re both waiting for the rest of them. I’m curious.” Junpei dug around in his pocket and offered a pen-knife. “Here. So you don’t have to use the sword.”

Flicking the knife blade out, Minato set to work carving the beast, ripping and cutting away pieces as quickly as he could eat. The Shadow’s insides were oddly incoherent, vaguely resembling masses that made sense but only enough to suggest the strange manifestation was, in fact, some kind of animal. Whatever the “organs” were, they turned out to be more like masses of gelatin, falling apart easily in the hands, and he had to put down the knife just to get hold of one.

“Blech,” Junpei offered, wrinkling his nose as Minato lifted out something black, gooey, and the size of both his fists. “Okay, you don’t have to eat that if you don’t want to.”

He smirked. “You told me to.”

“I didn’t mean--oh, gross.” He flinched and looked away as Minato raised his hands to his lips and tipped his head back. The texture was the same in his mouth as his hands -- wet gelatin, like a half-solidified Jello mold -- and he barely kept it from splattering all over his shirt as it dripped out of his fingers and over his tongue. The messy blob left a trail of something slick in his mouth, but at least it held together as it slid down and didn’t collapse all over his face. He licked at his lips and brushed them off on the back of one hand.

“Can...can I try?” Junpei inched closer, prying himself off the stairs, and held out a hand. Without a second thought, Minato dropped a piece of  _ something _ into it and continued to dig at the creature. There were no bones inside the carcass; the whole thing seemed to just keep itself upright by force of will. Or maybe those weird bendy parts right there were bones? He chewed on one, crunching it easily between his teeth.

A coughing sound drew him away from his thoughts, and he glanced over to see Junpei grimace, hack up the morsel in his mouth, and spit it on the floor. “Ew. Ew, ew, ew. This shit is  _ nasty. _ How can you  _ eat _ this?”

Maybe it had something to do with expectations. After all, this was related to the human mind, right? Perhaps Shadows were as tasty as one expected. Well, more for him, then. He tossed the knife back to Junpei and tore at the rest of his meal with both hands. He didn’t entirely want to explain this effort to the rest of SEES, so he had to finish it quickly. The taste seemed pretty uniform now, so he chose speed over perception, devouring handfuls of flesh as quickly as he could fit them into his mouth.

When only a few scattered lumps remained, he sat back on his heels and let his arms fall. His stomach felt tightly filled, more than the usual pleasant feeling of a large meal, but not quite unfortunate. “I...think that’s it for me.”

“Hey, there’s a bit left.” Junpei laughed and poked at one of them with the end of his sword.

He glanced at the mound of...well, whatever it was. Gelatinous meat. “I don’t think I can.”

“You’re almost done!”

Minato mumbled a reluctant noise and gathered up the last few pieces. They were half-dissolved now, the Shadow finally decaying away into its usual black ether, but at this point he didn’t care. Maybe them being more liquid would make them fit better, anyway. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and threw caution to the wind, gulping them down in large bites. His already overstretched body made a little more room, and he flopped over onto his side as it twinged in protest.

“Yeah!” Junpei pumped a fist. “Nice! Also, that’s ridiculous. Just sayin’.”

From the floor, Minato offered a thumbs up.

“C’mon, they should be here any second. Get up.”

“No.”

Junpei knelt next to him and patted him affably on the shoulder. “C’mon. Gotta walk it off. Up you go.” He grabbed an arm and pulled.

Minato groaned and struggled to his feet, eyes half-closed in a sleepy daze. The magnitude of what he had just done crept into mind, and suddenly his belly felt heavy and strained. He pressed a hand to his shirt, and it molded to the vague curve underneath. At least he wasn’t the sort to swell up and pop off buttons. All the extra volume went inward, not outward.

“You okay?”

“Uncomfortable,” he muttered, meandering toward the stairs. His stomach groaned loudly in agreement, shifting its new contents about.

“Legit.”

The sound of footsteps heralded the rest of the team, who paused on the new floor with varying degrees of fatigue. Koromaru, obviously not tired yet, barked and ran in circles around Minato. His master knelt to scratch him gently on his fluffy white head. In return, he whimpered and butted Minato gently, as if asking about his status.

“I’m okay,” he mumbled, and Koromaru sniffed his face with a look of canine concern.

Junpei motioned the group onward with a broad sweep of his arm that gained mostly irritated looks. “C’mon, you all can’t be that tired. We’re bored up here. Let’s move on!”

“Have you already cleared the floor?” Ken trotted ahead, the group’s pet following him eagerly.

“Yeah.” Junpei rushed to catch up, and Yukari sighed and followed with an irritated mutter. SEES picked itself up collectively and ambled behind.

  
  


As the stairs to the next floor up came barely into view, Fuuka stopped at the rear of the group. “Are you sure you cleared it out?” She peered around, then called up Lucia to investigate further. “I’m still getting a reading.”

“Where from?” Mitsuru drew her rapier. “Everyone, hold up a moment!” The train of students paused, strung out far along the hallway.

“It’s hard to see...I feel like there’s some kind of interference. I just keep seeing  _ us _ , right on top of it. That’s not right. We’re accidentally hiding it.”

“I’m not going to be much help, but I can try…”

Minato leaned against the wall, far enough away that he could see Ken, Koromaru, and Junpei better than the puzzled navigators. The pain in his stomach hadn’t let up like it usually did after a while to settle; instead, the contents gurgled and sloshed and threatened to push up into his throat. Curling over himself a little, he closed his eyes and took several slow breaths. Maybe that had been too much food. It didn’t seem to be digesting well.

“Hey, you okay?” Ken glanced over his shoulder, hefting his spear into his hands. “What’s up?”

Junpei tried and failed not to laugh. “Hey, man, if you have to throw up, do it not in the middle of the floor, all right?”

“I’m okay,” Minato muttered, then dropped to a knee as a sudden spasm shook him. “Ngh.”

“Whoa whoa,” Ken yelped, rushing over to him. “I don’t think so. Maybe, uh, lie down for a second?”

“Is something going on up there?” Akihiko yelled from farther down the hall. “What’s wrong with him? Can we have Aigis carry him?”

“I think he’s sick.” Ken pushed his hair back and laid a hand on his forehead. “Not warm, but…”

“We’ve got a signal in the area.” Akihiko beckoned Aigis forward from the rear. “Either we need to resolve this now, or we’ll carry him to the next floor. The next one  _ should _ be a safe one.”

“Guys!” Yukari sprinted toward them with the navigators in tow. “We found it. And it’s  _ weird. _ ”

Minato groaned and lay down, sprawling out on the floor. The Shadow goo roiled loudly in his belly, and he brought a hand to his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut.

Aigis ducked and grabbed him by the shoulders, flipping him onto his chest. The sudden pressure on his stomach made him flinch in pain. “Vomiting while on one’s back is not advisable. Please remain in this position until your nausea passes.”

“I’m not going to--” His voice cut off as he felt a slimy, creeping sensation inch up his throat. Ducking his head, he clenched his jaw and swallowed hard. The pressure fell away, but now it felt like he was entirely shaking inside, something he couldn’t control pushing out in random directions from within.  _ What the hell? _

“You are salivating excessively, which is a common sign of imminent vomiting. Additionally, your motions and the sounds of your body signal probable nausea.” Aigis patted his head awkwardly. “I will assist you if you are ill.”

“The Shadow is somewhere with us.” Fuuka summoned Lucia again, taking another sweep, her voice transitioning to a mental presence. “I don’t really understand how, but--”

“Oh. Oh, crap.” Junpei brought a hand to the back of his neck and chuckled nervously. “Shit. That’s it.”

“Do you know what’s going on here?” Mitsuru pointed her rapier at him, and he flinched back.

“Uh, yeah. Right. So, uh, the Shadow is, uh…”

“Stop dawdling, Iori.”

“Right there.” He pointed at the prone body grumbling quietly on the floor.

Light dawned in Fuuka’s eyes. “Right there? But...oh.  _ Oh. _ ” Her mind-voice faded, as if distant, and she slowly brought a hand to cover her mouth. “What did you  _ do?!” _

“He, uh. He ate a Shadow.”

“He  _ what? _ ”

Ken covered his face with a hand. “What are you, three? Don’t eat stuff off the floor!”

Minato managed to roll onto his side, giving his belly room to decompress a bit, and Aigis leaned over and matter-of-factly unbuttoned his shirt up to the chest.

“Confirmed. There appears to be an independent being inside his body.” She pointed, needlessly, at the now-shifting mound beneath his skin. It sloshed with an angry gurgling snarl, half bodily sound, half monstrous growl.

“...Uh oh.” Ken took a few steps back.

“Is he gonna go all Alien?” Junpei asked, his face frozen between a frantic grin and panic. 

“Iori?” Mitsuru pressed two fingers to the bridge of her nose. “Please tell me, if you can,  _ why _ this has happened.”

“Well, y’see, he wanted to see what they tasted like, so…”

Looks of revulsion washed through the group. Junpei powered through the awkward silence.

“We cut down a little one, so I figured, this guy can eat anything, I’ll dare him to eat the whole thing--”

“That’s it,” Fuuka mumbled. “That’s why this happened.”

“Huh?”

“Shadows can reform if given enough time. That’s why when we clear out a floor, it isn’t permanent. Being so close to a Persona-user must have reformed it quickly. But there has to be enough left of it. So, to my knowledge, eating part of one would be all right, if you really wanted to. All of it...”

“Not so much,” Akihiko finished, leaving Fuuka to turn green in the cheeks. “Well, this is disgusting. So how do we get it out?”

“You...probably don’t want to.” The navigator pointed her scans in Minato’s direction. “The Shadow forming in such proximity means it will likely take on some traits of its, er, host. That means it will be far more challenging than it should have been, once it gets out. But stomach acid is powerful. If we just leave it there, it should dissolve on its own.”

(Option 1) -------------------- 

“So just let the body do what it does?” Akihiko raised a skeptical brow, watching Minato writhe as he tried to resist the foreign motions inside himself.

“A one hundred percent chance of combat is more than we would face if we try Fuuka’s suggestion,” Aigis replied. “Still, the Shadow appears to be attempting to exit via his mouth.”

“It’s trying to  _ come out?” _

Yukari turned around, covered her ears, and took several steps away. Ken leaned over with morbid interest as Aigis put her hand firmly to Minato’s neck. Something unnatural pushed back.

“My apologies if this scene is disturbing for me to describe to you,” the robot called, but Yukari didn’t hear through her attempts to not consider what was going on. “Still, yes. It will attempt to remove itself through the throat until it escapes or dies.”

“So, uh...hear that?” Junpei nudged Minato, who glanced up and tried in vain to cover his belly with both arms. It growled and rippled under his hold. “Just don’t let it out. Keep your mouth shut. You’re pretty good at that, right?”

“Yeah,” he muttered, then realized too late what he had done. A sharp pain shot up through his chest, and a slimy tendril surged up until the tip shot out of his mouth and probed at the air. He doubled over as his stomach clenched and squeezed, trying to force the creature out. Before he could figure out what to do, a cacophony deafened him from all around.

“Shit!”

“What  _ is _ that?”

“ _ Arf arf!” _

“Stop it before it gets out!”

“What the  _ hell!” _

“ _ Augh!” _

“Aigis!”

Characteristically calm, the android shoved the Shadow back in despite Minato’s heaving and clamped a hand over his mouth. His cheeks puffed out with the extra volume. “Please do your best to keep it internally constrained.”

Minato stared up at her, hoping she read the message on his face:  _ This isn’t easy! _

She unceremoniously ripped a strip of cloth from his shirt. “I will bind your mouth to assist.”

He tried to keep still as she wrapped the strip around his head, holding his jaw firmly shut. The blockage in his throat kept him from breathing well, and it pushed at his reflex to throw it all up, but there was nowhere for anything to go but where it came from. What felt like an inch at a time, he pushed it back down, his neck aching with its burden as it coiled up on itself in the process. The rest of the creature snarled in rebellion, and he winced as it stretched his already tightened skin further before withdrawing again.

Mitsuru watched the scene worriedly. “Aigis, carry him. We should at least move up a floor if we’re going to wait around this long. I don’t want that Reaper showing up again. It finds us if we’re too still.” She took the lead, and the android lifted Minato into her arms and followed close behind.

“So, about this Alien thing…”

“Shut  _ up _ , Iori.”

“I’m just saying it could happen!”

  
  


On the floor above, Aigis laid Minato on the floor, his head resting on the remains of his shirt as a crude pillow. “Please do your best to relax. We will be here until near the end of the hour.”

“So…” Yukari folded her arms. “What happens then?”

“I do not know.”

“Well, that’s worrying.”

“Do you have a heat source?” Aigis looked at her hands contemplatively. “My shell is very cold compared to the human body.”

“Huh? Uh...yeah, I have some of those warming pads that you put in your gloves or shoes or whatever…” Yukari fished out a package from her bag. “Like this?”

“Yes, these will suffice.” Aigis opened the sachets and squeezed the chemical warmers into action. “Thank you.”

“Uh, sure.”

She laid the pads across Minato’s stomach, and he relaxed a little bit as the heat soaked into his body and relieved some of the pain from his irritated captive’s thrashing. He curled in on himself briefly as he stifled a heave.

Mitsuru sighed at the scene. “I hope you’ve learned not to put everything in your mouth.”

Unable to reply, Minato simply looked at them, shrugged as if to say,  _ What can you do? _ , and winced. His skin bulged and rippled.

“Aigis, for a lady -- robot? Robot lady -- who’s all about protecting this guy, you’re awfully chill about this.” Junpei crossed his legs on the floor and dug a deck of cards out of his pocket. “Anyone want to play while we wait?”

“Displaying panic would not improve the current situation,” Aigis replied with a finger held up knowingly. “However, rest assured that I am, as you all colloquially say, ‘freaking out’ as well.”

Koromaru whined and stretched out next to Minato, his fur soft and warm against bare skin. He laid his head on his master’s chest and growled whenever the Shadow made a displeased noise.

“Sooo,” Junpei said as he dealt out the cards to those gathered around him, “that must feel  _ really _ weird.”

The blue hair bobbed along with a nod.

“Junpei, stop  _ talking _ about it,” Yukari muttered. “I’m trying not to think about this too hard.”

“Now we know.” Akihiko took his cards and glanced across the set. “Don’t eat Shadows.”

“Don’t eat  _ entire _ Shadows,” Junpei amended. “I’m not convinced eating  _ some _ of one is a bad idea. It fixed up all his wounds, anyway, and he seemed to enjoy it. Tastes like crap, though. To me, anyway.”

“Oh hell,  _ you _ tried it? Do we have to worry about  _ you _ ‘going all Alien’?”

“Nah, I spat it out. It’s nasty.”

As Minato watched the card game through half-open eyes, the rolling and squirming inside faded to an angry shaking, then a tolerable level of vague shifting. He fell asleep near the end of the Dark Hour, head lolling to the side. Koromaru stood and nosed briefly at the diminishing curve of his belly, then trotted over to Ken’s side, seemingly satisfied. Aigis glanced down.

“It seems to have perished.”

“Took it long enough.” Akihiko dropped his cards in Junpei’s lap and stood, stretching his arms overhead. “I’m glad that went uneventfully, at least. Fuuka, can we get this confirmed?”

“Right.” She approached the sleeping boy and called her Persona to look over him. “...Yes. There are no more Shadow signatures.”

“I hope all of you learned something today,” Mitsuru sighed. “Don’t eat things that you don’t know what they do. If you do,  _ tell us.  _ And Junpei...don’t goad people into doing ridiculous things.”

Yukari sighed and glanced at Fuuka. “Why do I think that advice is never going to stick?”

  
  


(Option 2) -----------------------

“I don’t think we really have a choice. It’s probably coming out one way or another.” Akihiko motioned for everyone to take a step away from the scene. “All right, guys, get your weapons out. I don’t know what this thing is going to be.”

“It likely has aspects of all his currently available Personas,” Fuuka offered, backing far away, retreating onto the corner platform. “Be careful.”

“Ugh, you’re all dumb,” Yukari muttered, stepping forward. “This is an awful experience. At least I’ll hold his hair or...whatever he wants, anyway.” She took one of Minato’s arms and guided him up to kneel instead of lie. “Do what you need to do. Maybe stick a finger down your throat to, uh, get it going?”

He winced and grabbed her arm, holding himself up so that he didn’t fall on his face again. Glancing away, he brought his other hand to cover his mouth.

“C’mon, we gotta fight this thing.” Junpei raised his sword. “We’ll fix you up when we’re done. You’ll be okay.”

Yukari rubbed his back. “Just let it happen. It’ll be over soon.”

Leaning forward, he took a deep breath and let his head hang. He couldn’t call up the nausea on command; it grew whenever the Shadow decided it wanted another try at leaving. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if the creature understood it still had an exit, so he opened his mouth and tightened his belly and hoped it got the message. A sudden painful heave and rising pressure in his throat told him that he didn’t have a choice in its departure anymore, and he propped himself on his hands as a black amorphous mess burst from his mouth. The stream poured out onto the ground, pooling up in front of his knees, and rose into a mangled ambiguous shape sporting blunt teeth and hollow eyes.

“Wow, that’s a nightmare right there,” Junpei mumbled, Evoker in hand. Akihiko kicked his foot and hissed at him to  _ shut up already. _

The beast streamed out endlessly _ ,  _ surging into view in fits and starts, until Minato was dizzy from holding his breath and scratched at the floor from the pain of wringing himself out. Streaks of watery yellow bile dripped from the Shadow’s half-formed body as it gathered itself up, the last of it still strung out into its former prison. Yukari stifled a scream but stayed with him, her hand still on his back, the other holding him steady.

“How the heck did you eat all that?” Ken muttered.

He didn’t have the wherewithal to offer a shrug in return, but the worst seemed finally over, with his stomach feeling more hollow than not. Now that the morass was thick and building itself up, he grabbed at the remaining goo with both hands and yanked the rest of it out. When the last of it came free, he fell onto his side and took a long, gasping breath.

The Shadow swelled into a column, then split into a tall, spindly bipedal shape, testing out its new arms and legs. Baring its teeth, it screamed a noise that was far too human for comfort. As it peered down, a ragged blue mane sprouted from its head and down its shoulders, and its eyes turned a silvery gray.

“Wow, that’s all kinds of wrong!” Yukari yelped as she dragged Minato away from the battle. “Guys, kill it already!”

When the Minato-beast lay dead on the floor, Junpei stabbed the human-like head until it was black gooey mush, just to get it out of view. “Lesson learned. Next time you have to barf, do it out the window. We’re so high up I bet that thing wouldn’t have survived the fall.”

“Next time?” Yukari flung up her hands. “Really? This is going to happen  _ again?” _

“Or, next time, don’t eat the entire thing. That could also be the lesson.”

“How about,” Ken muttered, “don’t eat things that come from the Dark Hour?”

“I dunno, man, it healed him.”

“I’m not sure he feels healed right now.” The boy pointed at Minato, strung limply over Aigis’ shoulder, whining wordless complaints as his arms dangled.

“Okay,” Akihiko sighed, clapping them both on the shoulder. “No more eating Shadows. Not until we know what they do. And...look, that was pretty rough. I don’t think anyone needs that in their body. Next time we’ll just bring food in our packs if you guys really get that desperate.”

Minato held up a weak finger as if struck with an idea. “What if...what if element changes the taste?”

“No.”

Junpei laughed. “Yeah! Maybe ice is all minty! And fire is spicy!”

“ _ No. _ ”

Koromaru barked, and Aigis translated: “Perhaps, he says, cooking them will help.”

“ _ What did I just say?” _


End file.
